Palladium Books® Weekly Update – March 24, 2011

Palladium Books® Weekly Update – March 24, 2011

By Kevin Siembieda

I'm keeping this Update brief as Wayne and I work toward getting two new books to the printer.

Wayne, Alex and I have been putting in longer days than usual, even for us, these past several weeks. A lot of that time was spent on getting Thundercloud Galaxy™ finished and to the printer, along with The Rifter® #54 and a foursome of popular titles back in print. In between, we've been working on the new Palladium web site which is looking great, plus I have been doing all kinds of work prepping for the Creators Conference (only two weeks away!). There were times when we didn't know what day it was, and there were a couple days where my head was spinning.

Ah, but it is all paying off.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #54. Even as you read this, The Rifter® #54 is in final production and layout. It will go to the printer on Monday and is another rockin' issue with a cool cover, great interior art, new monsters from around the Megaverse®, super-heroics, Rifts® adventure and a final farewell to the long running Hammer of the Forge™.

UPDATE: Thundercloud Galaxy™ is almost done. The book is in the final stages of production, with the last few bits being written and edited. Layout begins as soon as Wayne is done with The Rifter® #54. Yes, that means it goes to the printer next week!

I think Thundercloud Galaxy™ is epic. I am very pleased with the final result. Editor Alex Marciniszyn can't stop raving about it. I must admit, it is jam-packed with all kinds of useful data, new weapons and gear, new alien races, new monsters, new monster creation tables, new and expansive colony creation tables, other random tables and more than 100 adventure ideas. Plus mystery, Dominators and more! Alex says it's the best "space opera" book Palladium has ever done. Just yesterday Alex came in after editing the latest batch of text and said, "Kev, this is space opera at its best. It feels like there are a dozen riveting ideas on every page, and that's in between all the other great stuff." Thanks, Alex. I hope our fans agree with your assessment. See the new description later in this update. Hey, don't forget, the "aliens and creatures" of the Thundercloud Galaxy can be used on Rifts Earth and other settings.

Rifts® Baseball Capsare back due to popular demand. Be certain to get yours. All are adjustable in size, extremely comfortable and look great. They are done and arrive at the Palladium warehouse tomorrow, Friday, March 25, 2011.

UPDATE: Palladium Website. The new website keeps getting better and better and closer and closer to being ready to go live. Rex Barkdoll and Thom Bartold continue to get this bad boy finished. I think it will be a crowd pleaser.

UPDATE: Creators Conference. Two weeks away. I'm excited. Big plans.

UPDATE: Online sales. Sales picked up this week, though they were still weak. But it was relief to see a significant rebound. A big bounce back is coming with the release of The Rifter® #54 andRifts® Thundercloud Galaxy™, both scheduled to ship next month around April 12. And they will be followed in short order by more new releases all Spring and Summer long.

UPDATE: Rifts® Lemuria. John Zeleznik is working on the cover, and writer Greg Diazyck is whipping up a few additional touches for the content. This is going to be another book that will surprise and please people as we push the envelope on everything we do.

UPDATE: Robotech® New Generation™ Sourcebook. Hmmm, haven't heard from Apollo Okamura lately. I should probably check on the progress of that cover. Can hardly wait till I dive into the manuscript for this title.

UPDATE: DriveThruRPG.com – People are discovering and enjoying the 90+ Palladium PDF products available from DriveThruRPG.com because sales were up 250% last month! A lot of the interest was on back issues of The Rifter® (issues #1-48 are available, as well as fan favorite titles like The Mechanoid Invasion®, all the books in the Rifts® Siege on Tolkeen series, Rifts® RPG1st Edition rules, and other books). If you haven't taken a peak at it, you probably should.

UPDATE: Kathy Simmons is feeling better and has two amazing new ghoulish creations going up on her eBay store this weekend – queenofghouls.com. As most of you know, Kathy creates and sells one of a kind, life-sized Halloween props of zombies and other monsters.

Keep those imaginations burning bright.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher

Aliens Unlimited™ – Back in Print A sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™

Aliens Unlimited™ brings alien beings to your Earth-based Heroes Unlimited™ setting and enables you to take your Earth heroes to alien worlds. This sourcebook has everything you need to launch an alien based campaign or galactic adventures, or introduce alien invaders, villains, heroes and campaign ideas.

Aliens Unlimited™ makes the perfect resource and companion to the Thundercloud Galaxy™ or any of the Rifts® Dimension Books and Minion War™ series. Looking for some new space aliens, villains and monsters to add to your Thundercloud Galaxy™ or Minion War™ campaign? Need some unique Splugorth slaves? Demon henchmen? Take a look at Aliens Unlimited™(and the Aliens Unlimited™ Galaxy Guide™ companion sourcebook); easy to adapt.

85 alien races/R.C.C.s., plus a bonus alien.

15 alien monster races, plus NPC villains.

Galactic Organizations (Atorian Empire and more).

Rules and tables for Creating Alien Characters, including an expanded Alien Appearance & Bonuses Table, Reason for Coming to Earth, Equipment, Special Vehicles and more.

Rifts® Dimension Book™ 6: Three Galaxies™ – Back in Print

A guide to the Three Galaxies, this book takes a look at dozens of solar systems, notable planets, select alien races, people, civilizations and monsters, as well as space anomalies, spaceships and more. This is another sourcebook that is ideal for campaigns involving the Minion War™, the Thundercloud Galaxy™, Phase World® and adventures in the Three Galaxies.

An overview of the Three Galaxies.

16 O.C.C.s/R.C.C.s including the Obsidian Spell Thief and Space Warlock.

Rifts® Adventure Sourcebook: The Black Vault™ – Back in Print

For generations it has been rumored the Coalition States maintains a Top Secret facility where it locks away and stores all the magic weapons and items it confiscates from adventurers and mages. The CS, of course, denies these rumors, but they are true. And the truth is revealed for the first time in this epic sourcebook packed with secrets and magic items. Do your characters dare to rob the Black Vault?

The Legend of the Black Vault.

The Coalition's Campaign Against Magic.

Coalition Anti-Magic Squads.

The Black Vault, its defenses and its inventory of magic items.

101 Magic Items – each "item" (79 of them) is described in detail. The last 22 items are magic potions with the effects of magic spells.

Rifts® Mercenaries™ – Back in Print

This fan-favorite sourcebook presents everything you need to create and run a mercenary company on Rifts Earth. It includes creation rules, new Occupational Character Classes such as the Professional Smuggler, Thief, Safecracker, Spy, Bounty Hunter, Master Assassin, and others, plus a treasure trove of mercenary weapons, vehicles, gear and arms dealers.

The Thundercloud Galaxy is a place for action and adventure. It is where the Dominators still tread and where the last of the Elder Races are said to hide. Ancient ruins of the Elders and other advanced people litter the worlds of the Thundercloud Galaxy. Some hold the secrets to riches, others threaten to unleash forgotten technology and ancient menaces.

Colonization efforts in the Thundercloud sponsored by the civilizations in the rest of the Three Galaxies offer the promise of a new beginning and a glorious future. Colonists flock to the Thundercloud filled with dreams. Space Pirates and an array of cutthroats also flock to the galaxies, guns in hand, ready to rob and fleece the colonists. Lawmen and heroes are in great demand, and the opportunities for clever adventurers are said to be without limit. Strange beings like the feline Shing, insectoid CheDive, and Whetu, who defy description, and monsters like the devouring Yboorare just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to life in this galaxy. It is also home to the Bushi Federation and the Splugorth Kingdom of Desslyth, and is a playground for space pirates, raiders, the mysterious Exiles and the dark forces of the Minion War.

As the civilizations of the Anvil and Corkscrew Galaxies scramble to colonize the Thundercloud Galaxy in a mad rush to grab as much as they can, they are beginning to realize the galaxy holds more riches, beauty, horrors and secrets than anyone has ever imagined, making it a place of discovery, adventure and treachery like no other.

Thundercloud Galaxy™ is a perfect companion to the rest of the Phase World®/Three Galaxies™ based Dimension Books as well as the Minion War™ series. Players can be pirates, raiders, brigands or hired guns, or they may be explorers, adventurers, Spacers, or any number of heroes trying to protect the colonists or the indigenous peoples of countless worlds and colonies. The possibilities are truly limited only by your imagination.

16 new alien R.C.C.s.

Mysteries of the Elder Races, complete with stats for them as NPCs.

Notes on the Dominators and Gene-Tech.

Notable Dominator weapons, gear and salvage available to players.

Notable monsters and strange creatures.

Monster Creation Tables.

Colony Creation Tables.

Indigenous People Tables.

101 Ruins and Adventures.

Guidelines for making Magic Weapons.

Notable weapons, colony ships and equipment.

The Trensik Mercenaries, Elder Races, Dominators and more.

The Exiles, Splugorth Kingdom of Desslyth and other mysterious people.

An overview of the Thundercloud Galaxy, bits of history, new insights and many avenues of adventure.

Any type of space opera and science fiction scenario you can imagine can be played out in the Thundercloud Galaxy.

NEW! The Rifter® #54 – Ships April 12, 2011

This is going to be another landmark issue of The Rifter® filled with epic source material, exotic places, strange critters, adventure settings and ideas.

The Rifter® is your doorway to unlimited imagination and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new heroes, powers, weapons, magic and adventure for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider.

The Rifter® #54 includes:

The Final Chapter of The Hammer of the Forge™, by James M.G. Cannon. At last, the pulse-pounding conclusion of this epic tale. Will it be a happy ending or a tragic one? We guess you'll have to wait and find out.

Dawn of a New Era, Part Two, by Corey Livermore. The conclusion to the adventure in a setting for Heroes Unlimited™ in which mutants and aliens are being forced to "register" with global governments, or else.

Megaversal Menagerie, by Aaron Corley. A collection of sentient beings and strange animals from the Palladium Fantasy® world and across the Megaverse®.

The fortress city of New Chillicothe, Missouri. Optional Rifts® source material by Matthew Olfson, with an emphasis on technology, weapons, electronics, equipment and an array of gizmos produced and available at the city.

Dark Day™ Chronicles, Volume 2. A Nightbane® short story by Jeremy Hutchins.

NEW! Rifts® World Book One: Vampire Kingdoms™, Expanded & Updated

Kevin Siembieda is reorganizing, tweaking, expanding and updating one of the most popular Rifts® World Books ever published: Vampire Kingdoms™. This will include some new artwork and an expanded page count. The book will be updated and expanded in much the same way as Kevin did with Rifts® Sourcebook One a few years ago. Best of all, it will be accompanied by theRifts® Vampires Sourcebook™.

NEW! Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™All new source material

Trouble is stirring in the Vampire Kingdoms as ambitious vampire lords, ladies and misanthropes seek to expand their power to dominate more mortal life forms.

Written by Kevin Siembieda and a handpicked selection of other writers, this sourcebook explores the vampires of Mexico and their kingdoms in ways you never imagined. Tons of new data, adventure ideas and revelations.

NEW! Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™

The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. More details to follow, but for now, 'nuff said.

Soulmancer and Blood Magic.

The Seven Deadly Plagues.

The Demon Plagues across the globe.

Battleground: Earth – as demons and infernals amass their legions.

Rifts Calgary – also known as Hell's Pit; the kingdom described.

Ciudad de Diablo, Harpies' Island and other notable Hell holes on Earth.

Lord Doom, Pain and other demonic leaders.

Horune treachery, Dimension Stormers and other villains.

Global chaos and the places most dramatically affected by the Demon Plagues.

Armageddon Unlimited™

for Heroes Unlimited™ and the Minion War™ – Available now

Armageddon Unlimited™ is the ultimate good vs evil setting and adventure. The fate of the world hangs in the balance and only you can stop its destruction as demons and Deevils fight for control of the Earth and bringing about the end of life as we know it.

Armageddon Unlimited™ is more than an epic world-saving adventure, it is also a sourcebook jam-packed with new powers, magic, weapons and Power Categories that can be incorporated into any Heroes Unlimited™ campaign. This book can be used as a standalone adventure sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™ or as a pivotal plot in an expansive Minion War™ campaign. Get a freesneak previewof the book from DriveThruRPG.com.

7 new Minor and 14 Major Super Abilities.

Deevil and Demon magical Chaos Weapons.

Enchanted Weapons of Order and a few Enchanted Objects.

Demon Hunter Power Category and abilities.

Crusader of Light Power Category and abilities.

Heroic Hellion Power Category – play a "reformed demon."

Hellion monster creation table.

Magically Bestowed Variant Power Categories and abilities let you wield weapons that empower good and destroy evil.

Rifts® World Book 24: Rifts® China One

Rifts® Dimension Book 7: Megaverse® Builder

The Queen of Ghouls: Life-Sized Halloween Props

Start planning for Halloween early as Palladium's very own Kathy Simmons will start to offer her 2011 selection of life-sized Halloween props (most are 6 feet or taller) that are to die for.

Each is an all-weather, life-sized Halloween prop that can handle rain and snow, and is a one-of-a-kind work of art (no two are exactly the same). Each looks frighteningly "real." All come apart and fold down to slightly larger than a king-size pillow for easy storage. Comes with easy instructions, a plastic storage bag, and the lawn stake to stand it up in your front yard. Indoor stand sold separately.

Types of "Ghouls" include: Zombies (all kinds!), killer clowns, wizards, witches, devils, grave ghouls, scarecrows, executioners, mad doctors, deadly nurses, vampires, werewolves, and more. Kathy's also now offering an array of hand-painted Halloween signs, signs with heads and bodies hanging from them, witch's brewing pots, Halloween centerpieces and more. Best of all, her high quality creations are much more affordable and imaginative than most competitors or mass produced items in a store, making them affordable Halloween fun.

If you think the photos online look good, you should see them in person. A typical "ghoul," as she calls her creations, costs $129-$259. You can see some of her work at her Queen of Ghouls™ Ebay store – queenofghouls.com.